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A 24-year-old female passenger was killed following a multi-vehicle accident early Sunday morning in Lubbock.
Officials said Marissa Morroquin, 24, shortly after being transported to University Medical Center following an around 3 a.m.

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Tiny bugs are causing some big trouble to South Plains sorghum.
The sugarcane aphid crossed from its namesake host crop. It spent some time in South Texas sorghum fields before traveling northwest.
In its new grainy host, infestations have quickly multiplied in more than a few fields area-wide.
“It’s starting to blow up in places,” said Pat Porter, an entomologist for Texas A&M AgriLife. “It’s catching growers by surprise. This aphid can go from barely there to ‘Oh, my god’ in five days, which is unusual for an insect.”

A 24-year-old female passenger was killed following a multi-vehicle accident early Sunday morning in Lubbock.
Officials said Marissa Morroquin, 24, shortly after being transported to University Medical Center following an around 3 a.m. Sunday in the 4200 block of East Slaton Highway.
Officials said seven people were involved in the accident after a suspected impaired driver went the wrong way down the highway.

BROWNFIELD — The next time Shelby Owens pours herself a glass of her favorite wine, she’ll have new appreciation for the hard work and labor that goes into planting, growing and harvesting grapes for wine.
“It’s fun to tour and see all the different vineyards,” said Owens of Brownfield. “It’s cool to just taste all the different wines and the grapes that the wines come from. ... and learn about all the equipment and how much it takes and how many people it takes to harvest.”

Lubbock resident John Bustos sat under a shady tree for several hours Saturday afternoon as he watched children and families enjoy the second annual Saturday in the Park event at Rawlings Community Center.
“(I) just wanted to spend the day in the park and check out the music and the kids,” he said. “It speaks for itself, ‘Saturday in the Park.’ ”
Residents of all ages enjoyed carnival games, contests, prizes, live music and food during the free event. Several young prize winners even received bags filled with school supplies as they prepare for the upcoming school year.

An outflow of strong winds with gusts between 35 and 45 miles per hour moved through Lubbock between Saturday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
The West Texas Mesonet, located six miles south of Wolfforth, recorded a wind gust of 46 mph at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, according to NWS. The storm also brought frequent lightning as the storms moved east toward Slaton and north of Tahoka.
Pea-sized hail was also reported in Levelland during one of the stronger storms, NWS states.

Officials responded to an illegal burn, just east of Lubbock on Saturday.
The fire was reported around 6 p.m. near County Road 6700 and FM 1729, according to the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.
The fire produced a large cloud of black smoke which was visible across the area.

Nearly 90 of 100 houses listed as Lubbock’s highest-valued homes come in at $1 million or higher — about a 46 percent increase from the 2013 list of Lubbock’s 100 most expensive homes.
In 2013, the Lubbock Central Appraisal District’s list of the most expensive homes had 60 Lubbock homes valued at $1 million or higher. This year, 88 of Lubbock’s most expensive homes are valued at $1 million or more.

Local shoppers can save extra cash next weekend during Texas’ sales tax holiday.
Tax-free weekend kicks off Friday and ends Aug. 9. Texas law exempts most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks under $100 from sales tax.
Texas shoppers will save an estimated $87 million in sales taxes next weekend, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts office.

New freeway lanes to open Monday
The Texas Department of Transportation is scheduled to open new lanes of traffic to drivers along Marsha Sharp Freeway next week as crews continue to work on Phase 5A of the project, according to a news release.

City staff stood outside City Hall to greet and applaud the junior ambassadors from Lubbock’s sister city in Japan.
The group of 16 students participating in the Junior Ambassador program from Musashino, Japan, have been in Lubbock for most of the week, spending time at museums, lakes and other city hotspots.
They were recognized by the City Council on Friday morning to celebrate the connection between the two sister cities for more than 25 years.

Lubbock temperatures have so far dodged the century mark in 2015, but there’s still plenty of summer left.
While it’s too soon for fans of cooler weather to celebrate — with several days in the upper 90s in the forecast next week that could teeter above 100 — the extended forecast favors cooler- and wetter-than-average conditions deep into 2016, according to the National Weather Service and Climate Prediction Center.

SPRINGLAKE — It’s the product of countless attempts, and it goes great with butter and sour cream.
The Reveille russet is a star in Texas A&M AgriLife’s potato breeding program. The spud and a host of others took center stage Thursday at a field day at Springlake Potato Sales.
AgriLife researchers formed the Reveille through breeding experiments. Crossing parent varieties produced potential new ones, one of which became the Reveille.